hitch: unchained mobility

The Electronics Research Laboratory within the Volkswagen Group challenged a group of Standford Graduate Engineers partnered with a group of Engineers from Hasso-Plattner Institute (Germany) to improve user mobility within a car-sharing network. Specifically, the Corporate Sponsor wanted to address the issue of managing personal items while on the move without a private vehicle. As we investigated this issue, it became clear to us that one user group's mobility was impeded more than others with regard's to ride and car sharing; that user group being bikers. Bikers have always had to choose between biking or taking a ride sharing / car sharing vehicle. Bikers could not rely, for instance, on an Uber driver having a bike rack mounted to their vehicle. Until now.

With hitch, the rack responsibility is no longer in the hands of the driver, but rather, the biker now has control of their own ride-hauling destiny. This is because hitch, unlike traditional bike racks, is mounted to the bike itself, rather than the car. Our bike rack conforms to and attaches to a wide variety of vehicles, accommodating whatever Uber, Lyft, or car sharing vehicles are in a given fleet. The basic mechanism of hitch relies upon using a tensegrity system of flexible and rigid members with magnetic tips, to quickly and easily attach to any vehicle. Preliminary testing has shown that a rider can attach to a standard vehicle in under a minute and detach in under 15 seconds, allowing ride sharing drivers to continue on their way with little disturbance. Further, the entire system tucks away cleanly within the bike frame itself and weights under 3 lbs, allowing the biker to ride without disruption.

With hitch, we have introduced a new lifestyle for bikers. hitch will enable cyclists to extend their biking range, as well as give them freedom to change their modes of transportation to accommodate any change of plans.